A police officer hugs a student following the horrific car crash at the primary school in Sydney. Photo / AAP
A police officer hugs a student following the horrific car crash at the primary school in Sydney. Photo / AAP
A father who helped lift a car off a boy after its fatal crash into a primary school has described the heartbreaking moment.
The man, who lives nearby, said he ran to the school after hearing a loud bang, and helped three tradies move the Toyota 4WD off an unconscious child while another pulled the boy out from underneath.
As he did so, he could hear another injured boy lying nearby calling for his mother.
New South Wales emergency services personnel are seen attending a vehicle accident at the Banksia Road Primary School. Photo / AAP
"He was saying 'I want my mum'," the man, whose daughter attends the school, told the Daily Telegraph. "She wouldn't have got to see him before he died.
Two boys, both aged eight, died following the crash and three girls were badly injured.
Witnesses who rushed to the scene after hearing the commotion told the ABC there was blood and debris everywhere and children screaming and crying.
Students told of the panic after out-of-control Toyota Kluger ploughed into a classroom. Tarik, a student in 3T, the classroom at Banksia Road Public School in Greenacre in Sydney's southwest that was hit by the car said: "The car crashed into the room ... I saw one of my friends faint ... I started crying. It sounded like a big pop".
Two young boys, both aged 8, were declared dead when they arrived at The Children's Hospital at Westmead. Two eight-year-old girls were transported to the same hospital in a stable condition, and one nine-year-old girl was also taken there in a serious condition.
Student Remas Shebhavalvem, 9, who is in Year 4, was visibly upset when she came out of the school. She was told her friend in Year 3 had a broken leg.
A boy in tears being collected from the school. Photo / AAP
Parents collect their kids following the incident. Photo / AAP
"I heard a bang in the classroom and we thought it was nothing. But then the teachers came and screamed at us to leave everything," she told News Corp Australia's Canterbury-Bankstown Express.
She said she was "super scared" especially when she noticed one of her friends hadn't emerged from the ruined classroom.
Isaac Tayba, who rushed to the school where his nephew is a Year 3 student, said it was a tragedy to see what happened.
"It was a difficult moment, we all left our jobs and rushed here," Mr Tayba said.
"You've got mothers over there fainting, you've got paramedics dealing with all the mothers and everyone is just nervous that it's their child."
"Apparently I think she (the driver) drove in there and instead of maybe pressing the brake, she might have hit the accelerator."
Police from Bankstown Local Area Command and Metropolitan Crash Investigation Unit are investigating and established a crime scene.
The female driver, 52, was uninjured but taken to hospital for routine blood and urine tests.
The scene at the school shortly after the incident. Photo / AAP
The driver is suspected to have lost control of the vehicle while parking or exiting the school. One witness suggested the driver may have hit the accelerator when she meant to brake.
On Tuesday afternoon police confirmed the driver had been charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, driving in a dangerous manner and negligent driving.
She was granted conditional bail to appear at Bankstown Local Court on Wednesday, November 29.
The Mail Online reports the driver was heard shouting "Help, I'm sorry" after the crash.
The school notified parents to pick their children up.
A tradie called Paul was one of three tradesmen who helped lift the front of the Toyota off one of the injured children. They then performed CPR.
"It wasn't just me, there were a lot of people here helping this morning," he said.
Khaled Arnaourt told Fairfax what he saw when he was one of the first to arrive at the scene.
"I heard a loud bang but I didn't take much notice of it. I was just about to hop into the car to get going and then I heard kids screaming. My daughter goes to that school. I ran across the road there was a big hole in the building. Teachers and everyone were just running around. There was blood and kids on the floor, just lying down and screaming."
Many local parents took to Facebook to beg for answers as they rushed to the scene. One distressed mother said she hadn't heard from her child and feared the worst.
Another parent tried to calm her.
"My husband is there if the parents have not been called it means that their child is ok, the parents or the children being affected has been notified, please don't stress," she posted.
One woman summed up the mood of many in the community: "Imagine sending your kids to school not knowing they'll never come back. How heartbreaking. I can't imagine what the parents must be going through."
